Turpentine - Ironbark Forest was located on what are now the suburbs of Lewisham, Petersham, Stanmore and parts of Marrickville (see Figure 1). The bedrock in this area is Wianamatta Shales. Watkin Tench refers to the forest as ‘Kongaroo Ground: Good Land’ on a 1793 map (W.Tench 1793 (1996:VI)).

Tench was referring to the farming potential of the forest land, the quality of which provided vegetation good enough to attract kangaroos and other terrestrial fauna that could be hunted by Aboriginal people.

The occurrence of animal bones in large midden sites in the Sydney coast region shows that people were not completely reliant on ocean and estuarine resources. Edible fruits and starchy rhizomes would also have been obtained from the forest as well as fibers obtained from reeds used for weaving (Benson, 1999). Silcrete Boulders, which could be flaked to make stone tools were uncovered during excavation of the old post office in Newtown (Byrne, 1980).

The existence of these resources may have encouraged Aboriginal people to use the forest in a transitory nature to collect resources. In areas with permanent fresh water supplies, possibly on the fringes of Gumbramorra Swamp (between Marrickville and Sydenham), they may have set up more permanent occupation. Almost all of this forest has been destroyed through rural and urban development.